From Barlow Pass, it was about a five mile climb up the side of Mt. Hood to reach Timberline Lodge. Especially toward the top, the tread was mostly sand, which slowed me down. But as I stopped to take a break here and there, I looked south to see Jefferson, and the Sisters. It was awesome to see how far I’d come!

I reached Timberline 2095 in the very early afternoon. The trail goes right through a couple of campsites, so I pitched my tent in the lower one, staking it out against the increasing wind. I emptied my pack of all but toiletries, dirty clothes, and my puffy, and headed down the hill.

The first stop was the hiker shower. It’s basically the shower version of a Porta-Potty. There was only a small bottle of shampoo, and of course no hot water. But I made do, rinsing out my shirt as well. I didn’t have a towel, so I just put on my wet clothes and called it good. Everything dried quickly in the dry, hot wind.

I got my resupply at the gift store. Whoever gave me the tip of using fancy duct tape on both your box and your wallet was spot on. All I did was show up, show them my wallet, and somebody said, “I recognize that! I know exactly where it is.” This saved a ton of hassle, and I was able to take my box up to the large patio area to shuffle my resupply.

I sat down next to a couple about my age. One of the women was telling me about their backpacking trips, and I offered to share a few of my excess items: trail mix, and a few extra dinners. The other woman was happy to have the dinners, but she insisted on getting my address so that she could return them once my trip was through. I narrowly escaped that one. We had a great time, chatting about our various trips, until it was time for dinner.

With my new resupply, I headed down to the Blue Ox, the local (small) pub. I had a 12″ pizza and a 12″ salad, while catching up online. Then I headed over to the day lodge to call Steve and keep charging my battery.

I headed up the hill about 8:00. The wind had been increasing, and one of my new campsite mates, Vessica, was having a heck of a time staking down her MSR Hubba Hubba. I couldn’t help her, but the other person, Animal Lover, had a few ideas.

I rechecked all the stakes and guy lines, and brought my umbrella inside the tent. I opened it and anchored it down, providing a good wind block. Hat tip to Jan for the great idea!

Breakfast buffet tomorrow!